Another Guilty Plea Logged In Federal PSI Bribery Case

Another person allegedly connected to a widespread public corruption scandal in western Hidalgo County pled guilty this week to charges that he tampered with a witness as federal officers attempted to uncover the conspiracy in 2022.

 

Court documents show Jorge O’Caña faces up to 20 years in prison after he accepted a deal on April 6 in which he pled guilty to witness tampering while charges of money laundering and travel act violations against him were dropped.

 

The documents filed in US District Court’s Southern District in McAllen also state that O’Caña might receive a lower prison sentence if he provides “substantial assistance” to the FBI’s investigation, however O’Caña is not eligible for parole, documents show.

 

 

The plea deal signed by O’Caña states he freely pled guilty in connection to a federal investigation into fraud, bribery and money laundering allegations involving Performance Services, Inc, (PSI) and several governmental entities, including the Mission Consolidated Independent School District. PSI, based in Indiana, offers architectural design services, design-build construction, and energy savings performance contracts, according to its website.

 

O’Caña’s sister, Veronica O’Caña, is listed as a co-defendant in the plea agreement, and she faces comparable charges. Her trial was scheduled to start later this month, but she requested a delay after her brother pled guilty this week.

 

Federal officials investigated a bribery case involving a kickback paid to a Mission CISD school board member to influence a board vote in awarding a contract to PSI in 2018.

 

Jorge O’Caña and his attorney met with the FBI on April 1, 2022, and received details of the bribery investigation and related evidence, and he was warned not to disclose those details to his sister or Antonio Gonzalez III. Gonzalez, who was hired by PSI to obtain contracts on its behalf, pled guilty in 2022 to bribing the Mission school board member.

 

Instead, the FBI says Jorge O’Caña made several calls to Gonzalez over the next few days, revealed what he had learned, and tried to convince Gonzalez not to cooperate with the investigation.

 

Among the evidence shown to Jorge O’Caña was text messages between Jorge and Veronica O’Caña and Gonzalez, coming to terms on payments made in February and March 2018 in connection with a Mission school board vote and approval of an energy savings contract.

 

Jorge and Veronica’s sister, Patty O’Caña-Olivarez served on the Mission school board in 2018 while the FBI bribery investigation was underway. She was elected judge of county court at law #9 in 2020. A fourth sibling, Victor O’Caña, is currently running for a spot on the Mission school board. The siblings are nephews and nieces of former Mission Mayor Dr. Armando O’Caña.